


Empty Walls

by codenamecalico



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: But mostly fluff, Character Development, Connor (Detroit: Become Human) is Bad at Feelings, Connor Deserves Happiness, Connor is hank's son, Connor-centric, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Good Parent Hank Anderson, Hank's perspective, Hurt/Comfort, I am apparently, Look at this photograph, Markus Josh and Simon are only mentioned, Painter Markus is alive and well though, and emotionally charged objects, but more comfort than hurt, but told from, for connor, hank is a tired dad, if you're into that, many trinkets, seriously he is so good, that will make more sense after you read it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:48:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28076490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/codenamecalico/pseuds/codenamecalico
Summary: “It’s not much but it's all yours.” Hank gestured into the room.He watched as Connor took it all in and squinted in confusion not making a move to enter. “I appreciate the gesture Lieutenant, but I don't sleep. It’s not necessary-”Hank cut him off with a gruff sigh. He knew that he should be more patient with him but did this kid really have to fight him every time he tried to give himanything? “Connor it’s not about sleep.” He pushed Connor into the room just hard enough that he stumbled a little. “I just figured if you were gonna be living here you might want a place that’syours.You know, a place to keep your stuff or to get some privacy. Even decorate it if you want. Whatever you want to do with it.”Recovering his footing Connor took another look around the room with a bit more purpose. “Whatever I want to do with it?” He mumbled as the little yellow LED on his right temple started to spin.orHank gives Connor his own room and Connor learns a lot about who he is from trying to fill it.
Relationships: Connor & Jericho Members (Detroit: Become Human), Hank Anderson & Connor
Comments: 4
Kudos: 153





	Empty Walls

The room was large, the emptiness of it only making it seem bigger, but not really anything special. The only thing that Hank had bothered to keep in there was a double bed and a little bedside table which now sat near the middle of the room. Even the walls were bare and white. It was a relative blank slate and why wouldn't it be? It's not like Hank had had any particular reason to do anything with it until now.

“It’s not much but it's all yours.” Hank gestured into the room. 

He watched as Connor took it all in and squinted in confusion not making a move to enter. “I appreciate the gesture Lieutenant, but I don't sleep. It’s not necessary-”

Hank cut him off with a gruff sigh. He knew that he should be more patient with him but did this kid really have to fight him everytime he tried to give him _anything_? “Connor it’s not about sleep.” He pushed Connor into the room just hard enough that he stumbled a little. “I just figured if you were gonna be living here you might want a place that’s _yours._ You know, a place to keep your stuff or to get some privacy. Even decorate it if you want. Whatever you want to do with it.”

Recovering his footing Connor took another look around the room with a bit more purpose. “Whatever I want to do with it?” He mumbled as the little yellow LED on his right temple started to spin. 

“As long as it doesn’t destroy my house.” 

Connor was suddenly completely consumed with the room. After a moment he turned back to Hank with a weak smile. “Thank you Lieutenant.”

“Sure thing kid.”

*

For several days after that Connor didn’t really change anything but Hank did catch him just sitting in there on the bed every once and awhile staring around at the emptiness of it all. He almost seemed troubled by it but Hank didn't really know how to ask him about it so he left it. If Connor wanted to tell him, he would when he was ready. 

It was about a week after giving Connor the room that Hank finally noticed a difference. He had been planning to take Sumo for a walk but the leash wasn't where it was supposed to be. Connor had gotten in the habit of taking Sumo out in the afternoons so he had probably just left it somewhere else but he was out with a few of his android friends so Hank just had to start guessing where he might have left it. Eventually he decided to check Connor’s room. Sure enough, he found it immediately sitting on the little table beside the bed but there was something new there too. 

Hank put the leash to the side and picked up the little plastic picture frame from the bedside table. Inside it was a photo of himself, Connor, and Sumo outside the police station. Connor was smiling broadly and holding up Sumo’s front paws so he was more level with the other two and Hank had his arm around Connor’s shoulders, reluctantly smiling for the picture. The photo was only from a few days ago. Connor had come up to him and insisted that they needed to get a picture together but refused to give him any reason why. Well, looks like he knew now. 

As chaotic as the photo looked Hank couldn't help but smile as he sat the frame back on Connor’s bedside table. 

It was a start. 

*

About a week later Hank was going into Connor’s room to ask him something about a case only to be surprised to find him happily sitting on the floor surrounded by a small mountain of antique books that hadn't been there before. He stopped short in the doorway to take in the sight. 

Connor had one particularly big one that he was turning over in his hand thoughtfully but the creak of the door drew his attention away from it. “Hello Lieutenant!” Connor said brightly, as if this sight shouldn't have raised any questions at all. 

Hank shrugged off the surprise and entered the room to get a better look. Leaving the door open behind him, he moved to sit on the edge of the bed near where Connor was in his little book pile. “Kid, how many times do I have to tell you, you can just call me Hank.” He grunted as he sat down.

“Right, sorry” Connor said, the beginnings of a light blue blush forming at the edge of his face. 

“No harm done,” Hank responded, waving off Connor’s embarrassment. “So, do you wanna tell me where all the books came from or am I supposed to guess?” 

Connor’s face lit up. Apparently he really _really_ wanted to tell him about the books. “I got them from Josh!” 

_Josh,_ which one was that? Was that the little blond one? No, no that was Simon. It must have been the tall one. He seemed like a reader the one time Hank had met him. 

Connor looked down fondly at the book he was holding, which Hank could now see read _War and Peace_ on the front in big decorative letters. He began tracing the bumps on the letters with his finger deep in some thought. “He says sometimes the right story can tell you more about yourself than you realized there was to know,” that must have been a direct quote from the way he said it “and he recommended several that he thought I might enjoy.” Connor dragged his eyes away from the book and handed it to Hank so he could see it better. “That one seems the most intriguing so far.”

Hank was pretty sure that he had read it at some point back in high school and he didn't really remember it being all that entertaining but if Connor thought he could get something out of it, why spoil his fun. “Sounds great Con, but couldn't you just ya know, download the books into your brain or something?”

Connor tilted his head to one side and took the book back from Hank, holding it like a precious artifact. “I could,” His brow furrowed as he struggled with the words. “But it’s _different_ reading the words, somehow it means more.”

“Huh,” Hank responded with a little bounce of his head. Luckily his lack of enthusiasm didn't seem to discourage Connor in the slightest. Setting _War and Peace_ aside for later, he started stacking the rest of the books carefully against the wall because there wasn’t anywhere else for them to go. A light came on in Hank’s head. “Do you want a bookshelf for those?”

Connor whipped back to look at Hank and abruptly stopped the stacking. “Could we really get one?” He asked like Hank had just offered to buy him his own personal library rather than just one measly bookshelf. Well, it was an improvement on having to fight him on every purchase Hank made for him at least. 

“Yeah, come on,” Hank said in a tired voice. He stood back up to go get his car keys and motioning for Connor to follow him. “I know a place a few minutes down the road. We’ll go pick you one out.”

And go they did. Connor picked out a nice little one that was bright blue with square shelf spaces stacked in a stair step pattern. It was big enough to hold all the books Connor had inherited with enough space left over for any future additions he wanted to make to his collection. 

*

It was about two weeks after that that Connor first came into the kitchen for breakfast without his blazer. 

Hank saw him creeping in out of the corner of his eye while he was making eggs. The sight was immediately odd, and not just because this was the first time since he infiltrated Jericho that Hank had seen him out of his cyberlife uniform. While he didn't need to eat, it wasn't uncommon for Connor to join Hank for breakfast to talk or what have you but the stiffness of his posture, the way he tried to slip in without notice, that wasn't normal. 

Connor crossed to the kitchen table and took a seat without a word. Hank resisted the urge to turn and stare at him, focusing on the eggs instead. There was clearly something going on with him but staring him down probably wouldn't help. This was the part where Connor would usually try to start some chipper conversation that was far too involved for the early hour but this morning he said nothing. Hank caught sight of a little yellow-orange light being reflected in the metal of the stove. The reflection spun the whole time he was cooking

Hank took a deep breath, readying himself for whatever this was. It looked like he was going to have to be the emotionally stable one because it clearly wasn't going to be Connor today. Whatever it was he had going on, Hank just hoped that there was something he could do to help.

When the eggs were done he scraped them onto a plate and went to sit across from Connor, who he could now see was anxiously flipping a coin under the table. His stress was palpable. When Hank sat down Connor tried to plaster on a kind face but there were clearly still lots of gears turning behind his eyes. 

“Good Morning Lieu- Hank” He corrected himself. 

“Good morning Connor,” Hank echoed in a leading way. He waited a moment but when Connor didn't say anything else he gestured gently to his exposed dress shirt. “Did something happen to your jacket this morning?” He asked carefully.

Connor caught his coin in one hand and braced himself. “I don’t think I’m going to wear it anymore.” The way he gathered himself before he said it- It was like he expected Hank to have a problem with it.

He didn't. 

In fact, he had been hoping that Connor would ditch the outfit for a while. It couldn't have been good for him, too strong a tie to Kamski and his people. 

“I think that that’s a _great_ idea.” Hank said pointing an encouraging fork of eggs at him to emphasize the point.

“Good..” Connor said, uncertaintly. His fidgeting hands gave away that this wasn't the whole issue. He clearly _wanted_ to say something but he was just struggling with _how._

Hank finally lost his patience for this. “Connor is there something you would like to tell me?” 

Connor let out a sigh and stopped the mental gymnastics. “Yes,” He confessed. “I just, I wonder if you might buy me some new clothes? I don't have enough saved up yet to buy anything substantial myself and I dont- I _cant_ wear these anymore.” He looked down at his current outfit with disgust. It wasn't clear what had brought this on but Hank had a feeling it was a good thing. Still, the amount of anxiety he had over just asking Hank to give him this small necessity… something had to be done about that. 

Hank set down his fork and looked Connor in the face seriously.

“Look at me Connor,” Connor did. His LED now glowing red. “You don't have to be afraid of asking me for things. Of course we will get you something new if you’re not comfortable in this.” A tension was released from Connor’s shoulders and his LED faded back to blue slowly. “We’ll have to go after work though, otherwise we’re gonna be late. You can borrow something old of mind until then. That okay with you?”

Connor responded with a reserved nod, a relieved smile growing on his lips. 

They ended up going to several different stores to get Connor everything he might need. A few time’s Hank tried to recommend things to Connor but after repeatedly watching Connor try to figure out how to politely decline his options he gave up. He was doing fine exploring all the options on his own anyway. In the end Connor actually had a lot of outfits that looked a lot like his old suit but now they were free from all the branding, which Hank suspected was the point. Though, he branched out a bit more with the casual wear, gravitating towards anything with a little splash of color. They even got Connor a dresser to keep it all in which they placed opposite his bed in his room. 

While they were moving it in, Hank noticed a new mirror on the other side of the room and near it on the floor was the Cyberlife blazer crumpled into a little ball. 

Hank never saw Connor wear that blazer again after that.

Good riddance. 

*

Things really picked up after that.

The dresser was quickly overtaken by the little trinkets that Connor managed to pick up here and there, as were the rest of the surfaces in the room. There were a few things Hank recognized, like the little St Bernard figure he had sitting on the dresser. Connor had seen it in a store window when they were out on a case one night and he had made Hank go back to the store when they were done so that he could buy it because it reminded him of Sumo. 

He named it Sumo Jr.

There was also the crudely sculpted android sitting on top of the bookshelf. On one of their assignments Connor had ended up saving a little girl and her mother from an attacker and in gratitude the little girl had given Connor the trinket. It might very well have been the first time anyone had done anything like that for him. Regardless, it must have meant something to him for him to display it like that. 

There were also weirder things around that Hank couldn't explain. One of these was the little plastic flower crown that now hung on the corner of the bed. Another was some old snow globe from an amusement park that he thought had closed down a long time ago. Still, it was probably good that there were things in Connor’s life that Hank didn't know about. It meant he was branching out. 

In addition to all the new little odds and ins, several new photos had joined his and Connors on the bedside table. Now there were about ten little frames crowding the space showing different people Connor had come to care about. A few of them showed the group from Jericho, others were of the other officers at the station that had taken a liking to him. Probably most interesting though were the photos of the androids that Connor had previously been tasked with chasing. Once he had deviated he made a point of getting in touch with as many of them as he could to apologize. Apparently most of them were willing to forgive and he made several of them into good friends. It was funny, Connor really would love anyone to death if you let him. Sometimes Hank couldn't believe that he had ever thought he was just a machine. 

At some point Connor had even gotten ambitious enough to start moving the furniture around so that the bed was now up against the wall. He said that it felt cozier this way. Hank wanted to ask him why it mattered if it was cozy if he didn't need to sleep (knowing full well that he had gotten in the habit of sleeping in there less than a week after the room was given to him) but decided to just let it slide.   
Despite all of these additions and changes though, the walls remained bare. That was, until the day that Connor came home with The Painting. 

It was a Saturday and Hank and Connor had the day off so Hank was having a pretty calm morning catching up on old tv and enjoying not having to be at work. Connor on the other hand had gone out to see Markus (Hank was still stunned sometimes to remember that his son was somehow best friends with robo- Jesus). When the two of them got together it tended to be a long event so Hank wasn't really expecting Connor home until late. It was around five when Connor came bursting through the front door, excitement in his eyes and a covered canvas half the size of him under one arm. 

“Hank!” he shouted, making Hank jump and whip his head in that direction. “You have to see what Markus painted me!”

“Geez kid, you’re gonna give me a heart attack.”

“Sorry lieutenant” Connor said absentmindedly as he set the canvas against the wall for better viewing. 

Hank paused the show that he was watching and slowly moved around to the other side of the couch so he could better see what Connor had. When he was sure that Hank was watching Connor carefully untied the fabric that was covering it and let it fall to the ground to reveal something genuinely beautiful. 

“Wow,” Hank said, raising his eyebrows, impressed. It was kind of abstract. In the center was the white form of an android without it’s human projection covering the plastic. Surrounding it were what looked like different colored shadows and each one had different symbolism connected to it. “What is it Con?”

“It’s me.” He said boldly without taking his eyes off of the painting. “I was just speaking to Markus about… “ His words trailed off and the smile on his face faltered. His eyes fell to the ground. Apparently he must have forgotten that whatever this represented, he hadn't told Hank about any of it. 

“It’s alright kid you don't have to-”

“No,” There was resolve in his tone. “ I think I should.”

He looked back at the painting fondly. “It’s been hard becoming a deviant. As much as it gave me, it took something from me as well. At least when I was following Amanda’s orders I knew who I was but after… I had to figure it out on my own.” He turned back to Hank who was hanging on his every word. “When you gave me that room it scared me because you said I could do whatever I wanted with it… and for the first time I had to face the fact that I had no idea what I wanted. There was nothing in my programming to tell me what to like and what not to. Without my mission I had no idea who I was. It was like... standing on a ledge overlooking a dark sea and I couldn't tell what would happen if I jumped off.” 

Connor’s eyebrows knit together remembering the feeling. “I was afraid of what I might find, partially because I thought I might not like the person I was but more so because I worried there was nothing there to be found, that despite the deviation I was still just a machine.” The thoughts seemed to overwhelm him for a moment as he paused. When he spoke again it was with a weak joy. “but that's not what happened. The more I looked around the more I found things to fill the empty space and each object… they told me something about myself. I was telling Markus all of this today while I was at his home and without telling me he funneled it into this painting.” He gestured to it. “It’s _me,_ the version of myself that I have discovered since gaining my freedom. “

The words lessened a stress Hank didn't even know that he had been feeling. 

So it had worked then, Connor had found himself. All he needed was that little push. 

Hank couldn't help but feel a bit of pride in his chest as he looked from the painting to Connor but on the outside he only put on a teasing smile. “I thought I recognized your weird little silhouette.” Connor smiled at the joke.

“Can you help me hang it over my bed?”

*

Hank stopped checking the room quite so often after that. The point was to give Connor his own space after all so he needed to give him space, but every once and awhile he would go in there to clean or to look for something and he couldn't help but marvel at all the little things that added up to the person Connor was becoming. That kid was going to be alright and if Hank had anything to say about it that space would be his to manipulate as he wished as long as he wanted it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! 
> 
> And hey...if someone maybe IDK wanted to draw Connor's room... that would be something I would love to see.
> 
> Either way, I hope you enjoyed and leave a comment if you have any thoughts. I love hearing what you guys think. 
> 
> Until the next time.


End file.
